Nomad Life - Day 172

Steve had been very worried about potential loss of power, due to the predicted "wet" snow overnight.  He assured me that he had a generator but I kept wondering whether I'd get to experience an old time power outage in New England like when I was a kid.  When I woke up at 0600 (with alarm), there was already LOTS of snow on my car (probably over a foot).  The power was still good so I started teleworking immediately.  I stayed at it for the whole morning, with only a short break for breakfast (bagel) at Kelly & Steve's home.  Meanwhile, it continued snowing and temps stayed near freezing - added to that, there was lots of wind.  Despite the rather scary conditions, I must admit that I enjoyed pretty views that I got from the window in Kelly's dining room - there were LOTS of birds!  My work day continued, with meetings through the early afternoon.  After that, I took a break to eat a late lunch (turkey sandwich).  Along the way, I could hear Kelly watching news stories about power outages everywhere.  It sounded like it was even worse in Providence and on Cape Cod so I contacted my dad to see how he was doing (power was out and he had over 24 inches of snow).  It occurred to me that I'd really dodged a bullet by having the Installation trip last week rather than this one!  Back to the present, though, I was finished working at 1530.  I'd thought that Steve would want some help with shoveling the driveway but he kept delaying the task, hoping the snow would stop completely.  While waiting, I went upstairs to the guest bedroom and did some reading.  Somehow, I ended up falling asleep!  At 1645, I heard Steve outside with his snow blower and I hurried outside to assist in removing about two feet of new snow.  Unlike most of the snow I encountered in New Hampshire, this stuff shoveled like cheesecake.  It was interesting to see how deeply my car was covered (I got lots of photos).  In the end, it took a LOT of work to get Nessie dislodged from the giant snow bank.  I worked with Steve to clear the driveway for his/Kelly's cars and, eventually, I was able to get mine out to the main street.  At Steve's request, I drove down to the cul-de-sac to further clean the car and was there for nearly 20 minutes - whew!  Meanwhile, Steve finished clearing the driveway.  When I returned, he asked if I'd clean the walkway and front step and I happily obliged.  During this project, I noticed that there might actually have been 36 inches of snow (some from previous storms).  While we were working, it got dark but we continued shoveling by street/driveway light.  Steve also had time to generously assist his neighbors (including letting one borrow the snow blower).  We were finished outside at around 1800 - or, at least, I thought we were.  Steve insisted on clearing the patio in the back of the house while I got warm in the house.  For a little while, I relaxed, watching news and doing some reading.  Before long, Kelly started making dinner (chicken with veggies, rice) and Steve and I joined her at the table at 1930.  As usual, the food was good and we had some nice conversation.  We wrapped up our meal at 2030 and, after I got changed, I went downstairs to complete my 10K step goal for the day (treadmill).  I was finished at 2145 and returned to the main floor to find that Kelly and Steve had already retired for the night.  After getting back up to the guest room, I did some reading until I felt ready for bed (2300).  What a day - it's been a long time since I was "snowed in" but it was great to be surrounded by my friends!